Rail-joint.



P. W. L. MEADOWS.

I RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4, 1913- 1,080,017. PatentedDed.2,1913.

////j///4 J J 10 15 14 INVENTOH i I A! TTURIVEV rails may be assembled without the neces-.

UNITED STATES Parana orr on.

PETER W. L. MEADOWS, OF GORIDELE, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH T0 PERRY (ELEMENTS, OF CQRDELE, GEORGIA.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2,191 3.

Application filed June 4, 1913. Seria1N0.'771',584.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known, that I, PETER W'. L. MEADOWS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cordele, county of Crisp, and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and,

useful Improvements in' Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail joints, andhas for its primary object to provide means upon the adjoining rail ends whereby the sity of fish plates or bolts.

A further object of my invention is to rovide means upon the cooperating or adacent ends of railway rails for holding the same securely in a joint, and which will automatically adjust itself relative to expansion or contraction due to climatic changes.

A still further object of my invention is i to provide upon the adjacent rail ends, oo-

operating means to form a secure joint, whereby the rails may be easily and quickly assembled or disjointed without the necessity of special tools or appliances.

. A still further object of'my invention is to provide a rail joint of such construction that-the weight of a passingtrain shall be equally distributed over an area to prevent undue strain or pressure upon any particular point such arrangement obviously minimizing the danger of broken joints or rail spreads.

With the above mentioned objects in view, together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the arrangement of a mortise at one end of the ordinary traction rail, a tenon upon the adjacent rail end adapted to fit within the said mortise, and means for holding the same securely joined.

My invention further comprises the arrangement as above stated, the flange bencath the mortise end of the rail being pro-' vided with a slot, a depending lug upon the tenoned extremity of the said rail for engagement' within said slot when the rails are assembled, the arrangement allowing of ex- ::pansion or contraction during weather the accompanyingadjacent rail ends constructed in accordance with my invention, Fig. 3 is an elevation of the rail end illustrated in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken ,through the rail end illustrated in Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken through the rail joint and illustrating the manner in which the rail ends are assembled to form a joint, and Figsrti and 7 are top plan views of the rail en s.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 and 2 indicate ordinary traction rails, comprising the usual ball 3, supported by theweb 4 upon the base 5.

In carrying out my invention I provide the end of the rail 1 with an extended web and base portion 6, the said web portion of said extension being widened substantiallyto the width of the ball 3, and is provided with a slot or mortise 7. The slot 7 is coextensive with the thickened web portion, being of substantially the same Width as the usual rail web for approximately one half of its lengthinwardly from the end, and is widened the remainder of its length, as at 9, shoulders 10 being formed at the inner end of the narrow portion. The slot extends downwardly a distance equal to the depth of the usual rail web, and is provided at the inner end of its base portion 10 with an aperture 11; The. aperture 11 extends longitudinally of the rail and is of substantially the same width as the thickness of the rail web, the outer lateral wall 12 of the said slot being disposed angularly so that the upper opening of the slot is substantially shorter than the lower portion, as shown in F igs. 4 and 5.

The adjacent rail end is constructed to fit and cooperate with the end above described, and to this end is provided with an extended ball and web portion of a length substantially equal to that of the extended web and base of the opposing rail end. The

web portion of the extension is adapted to fit within, and be accommodated by the slotted web portion of the opposite rail end. The web 4 at its outer end is enlarged or thickened, as at 13 to substantially the same thickness as the width of the portion 9 of the slot in the adiacent rail end. Arranged upon the base of the said web portion and extending inwardly and downwardly therefrom is a lug 1 1, provided at its inner end with a slanting face 15. The length of the said depending lug upon its lower surface is substantially equal to the length of the upper end of the slot 11 in the adjacent rail end, and the arrangement is such that when thetwo rail ends are assembled the lug-14 will loosely fit within the aperture 11. In assembling the rails, the extended ball and web portion of the rail 2 is inserted in the slot 7 of the adjacent rail, the lug ,14 being inserted Within the aperture 11, and the rail 2 is then retracted a short distance, that is, a distance sufficient to allow the inner end of the lug 14 to lie beneath the slanting wall 12 of the aperture.

As shown in Fig. 5, the rail 2 is only retracted far enough to allow the faces 15 and 12 of the lug and aperture respectively to engage and prevent .upward movement of the rail 2 in the event that upwardpressure is exerted u on the said rail 2, but does not hinder the ongitudinal movement of the rails relative to each other in .expansion or contraction. A shoulder 16 is formed upon each side of the web 4 of the rail end 2 at the juncture of the enlarged web portion with the web portion 4, and these shoulders are adapted to cooperate with the shoulders 10 upon the opposite rail end to prevent disjointment of the rails, and to relieve the lug 14 of any strain. The slot 11, as shown clearly in Fig. 7 of the drawings, is of substantially the same width as the rail web, the purpose of this arrangement being to provide shoulders 17 upon the bottom of the slotted portion 9 adjacent the slot opening 11. The width of the lug 14 upon the opposite rail is the same as that of the'slot'll, shoulders 18 being provided by this'arrangement upon the base of the enlarged web ortion 13, which rest upon the shoulders 1 Bolt openings 19 and 20 may be made in the extended end of the rails 1 and 2 respectively, in order that a bolt may be inserted when the rails are positioned together, to insure against any upward movement of the rail 2. From the arrangement described, it willbe obvious that when the end 2 of the rail is positioned correctly within the slotted web portion of the adjacent rail end, and the rails spiked to the ties inthe usual manner, danger of the joint becoming broken, deranged, or spread, will be obviated. The shoulders 18 upon the base of the enlarged web portion 13, as well as the base oft-he web 4 of the rail 1, will bear upon the shoulders 17 and the bottom 10' of the slotted portion of the opposite rails, also the upper edges of the thickened web portion will engage beneath the ball of the rail end 2, the combination of the increased bearing surfaces sufliciently distributing strain or pressure delivered to the joint by passing cars, to prevent breakage of the members. This arrangement of the interlocking rail ends obviously reduces the cost in the installation and upkeep of a railway track, as the doing away with fish plates, and the uantities of bolts necessary heretofore ineeping the fish plates and rail ends secured together, will be an item worth consideration. Also the danger of rail spreads and. disjointed rails, common heretofore on railway tracks by the working loose of the bolts necessary in the construction, will be entirely eliminated, as it will be readily seenthat rails secured together in accordance with my invention will be prevented absolutely'from becoming deranged from the causes stated.

The fact that when once assembled the joint requires no attention, should be of material consequence, for the arrangement as described, while being absolutely safe, will automatically adjust itself to climatic changes.

I claim: 7 I

1. A rail joint comprising abutting rail ends, one of said ends formed with an extended web and flange-portion, said web portion thickened and rovided with a slot, said slot being substantially the same width as the rail web atthe outer extremity of the thickened portion, and widened at the inner end to form shoulders, an aperture in the foot of said rail communicating with said slot, the other of said rail ends .provided with an extended ball and web portion, the web portion thickened at its outer end to fit within the said widened portion of the slot in the first mentioned rail web, and to form shoulders upon said extended web, and a depending lug upon said thickened web portion for engagement with said aperture in said first mentioned rail end, substantially as described.

with said slot, the width of said aperture being substantially that of the usual rail web, the other of said rail ends provided with an extended ball and web portion, said web ortion thickened at its outer end to fit within the said widened portion of the slot in the first mentioned rail web, and to form In testimony whereof I have signed my shoulders upon said extended web, and a, dename to this specification in the presence of pendin lug upon said thickened web portwo subscribing witnesses. tion reduced in width to substantiall that PETER W. L. MEADOWS.

5 of the usual rail web, and adapted to po- Witnesses: v sit-ioned within said aperture, substantially J. G. BROWN,

as described. J. P. Hnenns. 

